Instead of getting him to give up, can you get him to switch to more animal friendly sprays? I use one from the pet store (uk) that is safe for animals when still wet, it's an enzyme based thing and works very well. It really can't be healthy for any of you to live in that environment. Neutradol gel fresheners (probably not vegan though) are great at keeping dog smells down and don't aggravate my chemical sensitivities.

I'm not sure he would. My dad thinks natural stuff "doesn't work", without even trying it. My mom prefers natural cleaning products, but my dad won't use them. He buys tons of super chemically antibacterial stuff. My mom will use baking soda and vinegar to clean the sink drains; my dad uses sulfuric acid. (And it extends to non-cleaning items, too. One time my mom bought organic milk instead of the regular kind, and he wouldn't drink it, just because it was organic!)

I feel so bad every time I give my dog a pill. I feel like I am killing her. The coughing stopped almost immediately after she went on the prednisone (she coughed a couple of times after, but it was only after she drank a lot of water, and only 2 or 3 coughs each time), but it is making her so sick. It's like I missed all of her adult years and she went directly from obnoxious puppy to a sickly elderly dog. She has no interest in toys anymore. She sleeps most of the day and sometimes she doesn't even get up when I get home from work. She is drinking tons and has to pee every 1-2 hours. This morning her bed was covered in pee. I don't know if she woke up and had to pee during the night and just went (I didn't hear her crying or scratching at the crate and I'm a light sleeper) or if she was asleep and just went in her sleep and didn't know. She also feels like she is starving all the time. She frantically tears at the covered dog food bins all day if we don't keep the door to that room shut. When she is outside, she will gulp down dog poop, dirt, leaves, anything that seems vaguely edible to her. And this is on a dose that is slightly lower than the recommended lowest dosage for her condition. My mother and I ripped up all the carpeting downstairs and on some of the stairs. But my dad's dog is old and has really bad hind legs and now he is afraid to go up or down the stairs because he can't get traction. So we have that dog sitting in front of the stairs and crying, and Tegan being lethargic and peeing everywhere and it's just awful.

Tomorrow is two weeks since she started the meds, so we're going to take her in for a blood draw as soon as we can, and if her levels are normal, we can start weaning her off the pills, which will take at least two months. I don't know what we'll do if her bloods haven't improved or she has a relapse when she's weaned off. She obviously can't stay on prednisone for life.

Poor Tegan! I'm just now catching up on her story. It's really a shame that your dad is using all of those nasty chemical things in your house, whether or not they are what's causing her illness. This sounds like such a frustrating situation, and I don't really have any advice to give (I don't suppose you can move?), but you and Tegan are getting my positive thoughts for good bloodwork and a healthy environment to live in.

_________________But if one were to tickle Pluto, I suspect that it might very quietly laugh. - pandacookie

55k usd is like 4 cad or whatever equivalent in beavers you use on the island - joshua

The panacur (dewormer) the vet ordered came in. Tegan has to take that for 7 days, on the off-chance that she has lungworms. She has been on so many medications at this point. Doxycyline, then baytril, then prednisone, and now the dewormer. I just want to get her off the pred. It's so awful.

We had bloods pulled yesterday, and today the vet called and said eosinophil levels were down to zero, so we can start giving her the pred only once a day and see how she does. But her neutrophil levels were higher, which could be just stress or it could indicate an infection. I'm hoping it's just stress from being at the vet! We have to watch her and make sure there are no negative changes when we lower her dosage. I just want her off the meds for good!!!

We had bloods pulled yesterday, and today the vet called and said eosinophil levels were down to zero, so we can start giving her the pred only once a day and see how she does. But her neutrophil levels were higher, which could be just stress or it could indicate an infection. I'm hoping it's just stress from being at the vet! We have to watch her and make sure there are no negative changes when we lower her dosage. I just want her off the meds for good!!!

Yay Tegan, good luck with your taper!

After typing that I realized I have now left you completely out of the loop, RC, and am talking directly to Tegan. I'm sure you don't mind.

After typing that I realized I have now left you completely out of the loop, RC, and am talking directly to Tegan. I'm sure you don't mind.

Haha, that's fine. I'm really used to people having complete conversations with my pets and not talking to me! People used to ask Sable questions all the time. They'd say,"Ooh, you're pretty! What's your name?" and I would say, "Her name is Sable," and the people would continue talking directly to her. "Sable! How old are you?" It would be this whole conversation in which they would completely ignore me and act like the dog was actually answering all their questions.

We cut the pred down to once a day on Saturday and I'm already seeing a difference. She is more energetic and is actually starting to be playful again. She is so much happier. Earlier, she was rolling on her back and making these happy little humming noises. She has a bit of an upset tummy tonight, but I'm hoping that's just because she had a bunch or treats when we were working on walks today. Two weeks of this, and then we switch to once every other day for a few weeks. I just keep thinking "no relapse, no relapse, no relapse"!

I can tell Tegan is feeling better because she is getting more and more fresh! Today she grabbed Basko's brush off of the porch and chewed the handle off. Later, she stole my mom's knee brace and was running around with it! (She thinks knee braces and bras are the best toys. I think she must like the stretchiness of them.) And then she was out in the yard barking her head off at something. I can't get upset because I'm just glad she's feeling better.

She does cough sometimes when she gets a drink, but I think maybe it's because she gulps the water down so fast. At least I'm hoping that's it! She doesn't do it at any other time.

She still has a huge appetite. I make her food with different kinds of beans and lentils and she loves them all. I'm thinking of adding a supplement to support her immune system. Collies seem to have pretty crappy immune systems.

I think the Febreze use has been toned down. The smell of it isn't overwhelming anymore. My dad still has those air fresheners that spray every 30 seconds, but baby steps I guess... We still have to rip up the carpeting upstairs and on most of the stairs. Unfortunately, the stairs look horrible underneath. Several different shades of paint, residue from some kind of rubber stair runner, and the stairs themselves are in bad shape (not surprising, considering they're around 125 years old). See what you did to us, dog? You made us have ugly stairs. Sigh.

She got a urine analysis done and there is no infection, but the urine was really concentrated with some crystals so they think she is holding it too much and not fully emptying her bladder. But she goes out and pees every 2-3 hours, so she's not holding it. She does only pee a little each time, but I don't know how to make her fully empty her bladder! We have to get another test done in 2 weeks, which means I have to get another urine sample, which is a pain in the asparagus. This dog just has so many issues. I don't know if there's a part of her that isn't messed up.

Oh, she is a big pain in the asparagus now! She is back to being more playful and will play fetch again. I have been watering down her food a bit to make her consume more liquids, and she seems to be peeing more. She is definitely getting back to her fresh self. Yesterday, she stole and ate a giant cinnamon bun out of my mom's purse. Today, she stole my hat, ripped apart Basko's toy spider, and stole and ate some bread (it was down to the heels, and stale, so no big loss)! Some days her third eyelids are very red, like her allergies are bad, but I have no idea what it could be. There is a lot of snow on the ground now, so no plants growing. We've ripped up 80% of the carpeting so far, and the febreze has been completely eliminated. I've been trying to mop the floors more often, since her face is much closer to them and maybe she's breathing in any dirt or dust tracked in. I don't know what more I can do for her (besides allergy shots, but we can't have testing done until she's been off the pred for several weeks, or giving antihistamines, which can be sedating). I'm just hoping so hard that the coughing doesn't return. If the worst it gets now is occasional red eyes, we can deal with that.

I joke that maybe she is allergic to humans and will have to drop us off at the human pound!

I use all natural cleaning products anyway, but it's hard to find stuff that has zero scent. We don't have blinds, but there are curtains on the windows. They probably should be washed more frequently, but I hate doing it because they have to be ironed after washing. Maybe we could take them down and have completely bare windows that everyone could see into! I do worry that there is mold growing in the walls or somewhere, slowly killing us all. I hope that's not the case! We have an air purifier, but it's about 10 years old, so I'm thinking about getting a new one with one of those HEPA filters and maybe that would help.

Tomorrow will be one week off the prednisone. No coughing yet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it is done with for good. She has to go for her rabies shot in a few weeks and will get checked out then. I'm hoping she won't be too affected by all the pollen in the spring.

It's so much better now that she's off pred. At one point she was peeing every hour on the hour, and now she is down to once every 4-5 hours and is fine during the night. SO glad she is off the meds!